Canoe tent and cot



R. D. GEORGE.

CANOE TENT AND COT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB, 20. 1919.

Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

INVENTOR A TTORNEYS WITNESSES R. D. GEORGE.

Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W! TA/E 88158 IIVVEIVTOI? R, 0.. Gemya A TTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RALPH DOUGLASS GEORGE, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 JAMES P. BENNETT, OF MADISON, WISCONSIN.

CANOE TENT AND COT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

Application filed February 20, 1919. Serial No. 278,139.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, RALPH D. GEORGE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Canoe Tents and Cots, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in canoe tents and cots and has for its object to provide a device of the character specified wherein a canoe is provided having means in connection therewith for permitting the same to be utilized in the form of a lean-to, to provide the roof of a tent, and in addition supporting flies, for forming the wall of the tent and capable of being folded into the canoe or unfolded as may be' desired, together with a folding cot, which, together with the supporting means for the canoe may be clamped within the canoe when such means and cot are not in use.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved canoe in use as a tent;

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the canoe with the accessories packed;

Fig. l is an enlarged section through the gunwales of the canoe;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectlon of the cot;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail looking at one of the rails of the head board;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional detail of one of the braces.

Fig. 8 is a section through the frame and mattress of the cot.

In the present embodiment of the invention the canoe 1 is of ordinary construction, having the usual seats 2, and it is adapted to be supported in the form of a lean-to, to provide the roof of a tent by means of standards 3. These standards form also the head board for the cot to be described, and they engage at their upper end keepers 4: on the gunwales of the canoe, the said keepers being arranged near one end of the canoe. Thus the standards support the canoe in inclined position with one end resting upon the ground. The standards are connected at a suitable height from the ground by means of a cross bar 5, which forms one end support for the cot, and referring to Fig. 5 it will be noted that the upper ends of the standards or uprights 3 are reduced as shown at 6, to enter the keepers. The tent roof so formed is braced against lateral displace ment by the flies 7 of canvas or the like, which form the walls of the tent. These flies are secured at one end to the gunwale of the canoe, and are so arranged in width that when the tent is held in the inclined position of Fig. 1, the free edges of the flies will come near the ground, and they are held by pegs 8 driven into the ground and engaged by loops 9 of rope or the like on the Two flies are provided, one at each side of the canoe, and when not in use they are folded or rolled in the position shown in Fig. 4. Referring to this figure it will be seen that the rolled flies are held in place by cords 10, which engage hooks 11 on the gun Wale, and on the body of the canoe. As many of these ropes may be. provided as may be desired to hold the flies in proper shape when the canoe is in use as a canoe. The remainder of the cot is completed by a foot bar 12, which is connected to the head bar 5 by side bars 13 to form a substantially rectangular frame, and a covering 14 of canvas or the like is connected with the frame forming the mattress of the cot.

The side bars 13 of the frame are supported near the foot bar 12 by folding posts 15, each post consisting of a pair of cross, pivotally connected bars 15 and 16. The head and foot bars are connected at their center by a longitudinally extending bar 17, and the upper ends of the folding braces engage the inner faces of the central bar 17 and the side bars 13, as shown in Fig. 2. The head bar 5 is connected to the uprights 3 by the clips shown more particularly in Fig. 6. Each of these clips or keepers 18 which consist of a body adapted to extend transversely of the bar and having its ends ,oifset laterally to engage the upright, is detachably connected with the upright by means of headed pins 19 on the upright, which engage key-hole slots 20 in the said offset end. By moving the clips upward they may be detached from the pins to permit the detachment of the head bar. l Vhen so detached, the members of the frame may be detached from each other, the said members being held at their corners in any suitable manner. With the parts detached they may be connected with the canoe and clamped on the bottom thereof in the manner shown in Fig. 3.

The pivotal connections 21 between the folding feet of the cot are pivoted to the bottom of the canoe, with one of the members of each pair of feet extending substantially parallel with the long axis of the canoe and with the pivotal connections offset laterally with respect to each other. The bars 13 and 17 of the cot are laid along the bottom in spaced relation, with the bar 17 between the members 15 of the feet, and with bars 13 on the outer sides of the said member. The uprights 3 are laid at the outer sides of the bars 13 and the bars.5 and 12 at the outer sides of the uprights. The members 16 of the pairs of feet are then turned transversely of the bottom of the canoe over these bars and uprights, as shown, to clamp the bars and uprights firmly to the bottom of the canoe.

lVith the improvement the weight of the canoe is not materially increased and since all of the parts are compactly packed away in the canoe, there is no restriction of room and the occupant carries with him tent and cot ready for use as such. The tent may be quickly unpacked or set up or may be quickly assembled and packed.

Referring to Fig. 8 it will be seen that the mattress is connected to the frame of the cot, by providing a wide hem at the edge of the mat-tress and passing the frame members through this hem.

I claim:

1. The combination with a canoe, of uprights for supporting one end of the canoe elevated to form a lean-to, flies secured to connected to the ground by tent pegs, and

to be rolled up and held in rolled condition within the canoe at the gunwales when not in use, and a cross bar detachably connected with the uprights for supporting and bracing the same.

2. The combination with a canoe, of uprights for supporting one end of the canoe elevated to form lean-to, flies secured to the inner faces of the gunwales thereof, the free edges of the flies being adapted to be connected to the ground by tent pegs, and to be rolled up and held in rolled condition within the canoe at the gunwales when not in use.

3. The combination with a canoe, of uprights for supporting one end of the canoe elevated to form a lean-to, flies secured to the inner faces of the gunwales thereof, the free edges of the flies being adapted to be connected to the ground by tent pegs, and to be rolled up and held in rolled condition within the canoe at the gunwales when not in use and means for holding the flies in rolled condition.

4L. The combination with a canoe, of uprights for supporting one end of the canoe elevated to form a lean-to, flies secured to the inner faces of the gunwales thereof, the free edges of the flies being adapted to be connected to the ground by tent pegs, and to be rolled up and held in rolled condition within the canoe at the gunwales when not in use, and means within the canoe for engaging the uprights toclamp them to the canoe.

RALPH DOUGLASS GEORGE. 

